The 2016 Gordon Conference on DNA Damage, Mutation & Cancer will present cutting-edge research on the molecular mechanisms responsible for the recognition and processing of environmental DNA damage as well as inherently unstable DNA sequences. Multiple biochemical mechanisms recognize DNA lesions or difficult to unravel DNA structures, ultimately yielding a choice of pathways for resolution. Competing and collaborating DNA repair mechanisms are at the heart of a delicate balance between inherent genomic stability and instability in health and disease. Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for developing next generation anti-cancer therapies that will take advantage of genotypic differences between normal cells and tumor cells. These front-line scientific topics will be discussed in the conference's nine sessions provisionally entitled: Inherent Genomic Stability and Instability; Genome Weak Links; Environmental Genomic Damage; RNA-DNA Interplay in Genome Instability; Oxidative DNA damage and Base Excision Repair; Mutagenesis in Response to Arrested Replication; Checkpoints and Strand-Break Repair; FoSTeS, Kataegis and Chromothripsis; and Emerging Chemotherapies Based on Cancer Genomics. Our invited speakers represent a variety of scientific disciplines, including molecular genetics, biochemistry, structural biology and molecular oncology. The Conference will bring together a diverse group of researchers with broad backgrounds and interests stimulating new research and collaborations. It will provide opportunities for junior scientists and graduate students to present their work in poster format and exchange ideas with leaders in the field, as well as the possibility to attend the inaugural two-day Gordon Research Seminar, which precede the Conference. Some poster presenters will be selected for late-breaking short talks. We anticipate that intense scientific interactions during this conference will impact cancer research in many significant ways and result in establishing productive multi-disciplinary research collaborations. The 2016 DNA Damage, Mutation & Cancer Gordon Research Conference will be held at the Ventura Beach Marriott, in Ventura, California March 13 - 18, 2016.